Why it works: Pepper and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Beefsteak and Kidney Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fairly hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Cut the kidneys into thin slices.
Place one slice on each piece of meat.
Roll the meat tightly.
Place the rolls upright in a pie dish.
Season the pie with salt and pepper.
Moisten the pie with water or gravy.
Assemble and bake
Line the edges of the dish with pastry.
Cover the pie with more pastry.
Decorate the surface with decorative pastry leaves.
Flake the edge of the pastry.
Brush the pastry with beaten egg.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 1 to 1.5 hours.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Buttock steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender with long, moist cooking.
- Kidneys
- Adds a rich, savoury, deeply meaty flavour to the filling.
- Rough puff pastry
- Its layers of fat puff and separate during baking, giving a flaky crust.
- Egg
- Gives the pastry a golden browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 1 to 1.5 hours. A hot oven lets the pastry's fat layers puff and crisp before the crust overbakes. The meat needs enough time for its tougher fibres to soften fully, so the bake should not be cut short.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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